Luke Rockhold News

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2017

Luke Rockhold is one of the best middleweights on earth. Last Saturday, he reminded the world of this fact, returning from a hiatus of more than a year to stop David Branch with a swarm of second-round ground strikes. According to former fighter and current UFC on Fox analyst Kenny Florian, however, Rockhold needs to start being a little more careful. Speaking on his podcast with Jon Anik, Florian explained that the blueprint for beating Rockhold was set by Michael Bisping, who knocked him out in June of 2016. The analyst explained that Bisping exposed some flaws in Rockhold’s game that were still visible in his fight with Branch – flaws that could be exploited if he’s not careful.

Russell Ess - September 18, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is coming off an impressive victory that place over the weekend. Rockhold was featured in the main event of UFC Fight Night 116 against former WSOF middleweight and light heavyweight champion David Branch. Rockhold earned a second-round TKO with Branch submitting to powerful strikes. Rockhold held a dominant position taking Branch’s back and flattened him out and unloaded with a barrage of punches.

Chris Taylor - September 17, 2017

Current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will look to defend his title for a second time when he squares off with former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the main event of UFC 217 on November 4 in New York. The fight (GSP vs. Bisping) has been highly criticized by fellow middleweight fighters who believe that the French Canadian should not have received an immediate title shot in a division where he has no prior wins.

Chris Taylor - September 17, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returned to the octagon in the headliner of last night’s UFC Fight Night 116 event in Pittsburgh where he scored a second-round stoppage victory over David Branch. Following the big win, Luke Rockhold called out former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre requesting that the French Canadian superstar withdraw from his upcoming title fight with Michael Bisping at UFC 217.

Chris Taylor - September 16, 2017

A key middleweight scrap between former title holder Luke Rockhold and perennial contender David Branch headlined tonight’s UFC Fight Night 116 card in Pittsburgh. Round one begins and Branch starts off quickly with a combination. Rockhold fires off a kick to the body followed by a low kick. Branch presses forward and pushes Luke against the cage. The fighters engage in the clinch and then break. Branch storms after Rockhold with a flurry of punches. He is connecting. Rockhold is in trouble but manages to clinch up. Branch with a takedown but Luke is able to stand back up. The fighters clinch again and Rockhold lands a knee. Branch fires off a knee of his own. They break and Rockhold lands an inside leg kick. Branch charges forward and lands a right hand. He presses Luke back against the cage and works some shots to the body. Rockhold switches the position and unloads a knee. The fighters break and Branch goes to the body with a jab. Rockhold with a low kick. Rockhold appears to poke Branch in the eye. David charges forward and lands a right. Luke grabs a hold of the former World Series of Fighting champion and drags him to the floor. Ten seconds remain. Round one comes to an end with Rockhold on top.

Justin Golightly - September 16, 2017

The UFC’s middleweight division has been in a weird, chaotic state ever since Luke Rockhold was knocked out by the hands of Michael Bisping. Some fighters like Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza went on strike, Yoel Romero vowed to not go back his home in Cuba until he got a title shot, and Gegard Mousasi left the UFC altogether. Luke Rockhold has expressed his frustrations in the past about how things were going, which is why he wants to keep the wheels of the division going. No matter who wins at UFC 217 between Bisping and Georges St-Pierre, the champ is supposed to fight Robert Whittaker. If that doesn’t happen, then Rockhold will. “Robert Whittaker has proved himself top dog and I believe he and I are the two best guys in the middleweight division. So, [the winner of Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre] should definitely fight him. But if not, I will. I’ll fight any man at the top and Whittaker is seemingly that guy. I was impressed. First time up in the division, it was a strong, composed showing. I’ve been watching him come along since and he’s growing nicely. Whittaker’s a really tough kid.”

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2017

When it was announced that Jon Jones had failed a drug test administered on the eve his of UFC 214 knockout of Daniel Cormier, it called his win into question. When Jon Jones’ B sample came back and confirmed he’d indeed ingested the banned substance Turinabol, it sucked the legitimacy out of his win – at least in the eyes of the sanctioning California State Athletic Commission. Shortly after the results of Jones’ B sample were released, the CSAC overturned his win over Cormier, rendering it a no-contest. From there, the UFC reinstated the former champ Cormier as the reigning champion.

Justin Golightly - September 12, 2017

Creeping up on us after the last minute switch-out of UFC 215, UFC Pittsburgh is a sleeper card with some guaranteed killer fights. Headlining the card is former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold fighting David Branch. The welcome wagon continues for Branch, after getting a win over over Krzysztof Jotko at UFC 211. It was the first time since 2011 that Branch fought in the UFC, meanwhile he was off in World Series of Fighting becoming a two-division champion, holding both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles. He brought more than just his experience becoming a “champ champ” back into the UFC with him, wasting no time showing everyone what kind of attitude he brings into fights. “[Luke Rockhold]’s going to try and come out to establish his dominance. He’s going to try and run his alpha male sh-t on me and I’m going to shut that sh-t down, obviously. I think that in that fight against [Michael] Bisping the motherf-cker slipped up. You can’t go out there and take anybody lightly. That’s the thing with me, I come from a different background than Luke, and I don’t have that kind of indoctrination that he does. I come from the f-cking streets and I don’t take anybody lightly.”

Tom Taylor - August 15, 2017

This September 16, in the main event of the UFC’s return to Pittsburgh, PA, former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champ Luke Rockhold will return from a long hiatus opposite former two-division World Series of Fighting champion David Branch. Speaking to Duane Finley of FloCombat.com, Rockhold shared his thoughts on this upcoming scrap with Branch. Apparently, he’s not a huge fan of the former WSOF titleholder.

Tom Taylor - August 13, 2017

Late last month, in the main event of UFC 214, then UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier stepped into the cage with his arch-enemy, former champ Jon Jones. Unfortunately for Cormier and his fans, Jones came out on top this night, sealing the dealing with a thudding shin to the head in the third-round. Just like that, he’d reclaimed the light heavyweight throne, while Cormier’s title reign had screeched to a grim end. Unsurprisingly, the ever-passionate Daniel Cormier did not take this loss well. Immediately after the fight, during an ill-advised interview with Joe Rogan, he broke down in tears, indicating clearly that he was both concussed and heartbroken.

Tom Taylor - August 9, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is not a fan of the way Michael Bisping has been comporting himself as the reigning champ. In fact, he believes Bisping should be stripped of the UFC middleweight belt, as his only defense thus far has come against an aging Dan Henderson, and his next defense will pit him against former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre. Rockhold made the case for the UFC’s stripping of Bisping in a recent interview with ESPN:

Tom Taylor - August 8, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold appeared on The MMA Hour to discuss his August 16 fight with former two-division World Series of Fighting champ David Branch. During his interview, Rockhold explained that Branch was simply the only option remaining after he tried and failed to lock down a bevy of other fights. “I’ve tried to get everybody I could possibly think about to get a fight that really got me up, but no one would take a fight,” Rockhold said (h/t MMAFighting.com). “And now we’ve come down to David Branch (who) was the only guy in the top 10 that would take a fight. From June to July to August to September, and it’s time.”

Tom Taylor - August 3, 2017

It has now been more than a year since Cain Velasquez’s last fight, a July 2016 mauling of the ever-dangerous Travis Browne. This, of course, is not for lack of trying. The former heavyweight champ was briefly scheduled for a December rematch with Fabricio Werdum, but unfortunately withdrew from this fight with the latest in the long string of injuries that has marred his recent career. For a time, it sounded as though it could be awhile before the oft-injured Velasquez stepped back into the cage. Apparently, however, he might be back in action quite soon.

Russell Ess - July 24, 2017

The middleweight division that seemed so chaotic just a short time ago seems shaking itself out. With Michael Bisping vs Georges St-Pierre no longer a hot topic for Dana White and Robert Whittaker now the interim middleweight champion, it seems pretty clear who Bisping will fight next. Now, a couple of the contenders may be figuring things out for themselves as former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero, who just lost to Whittaker in the interim title fight by unanimous decision, were going after each other on Twitter.

Chris Taylor - July 22, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will make his highly anticipated return to the octagon this September when he meets David Branch in the main event of UFC Fight Night Pittsburgh. UFC officials just broke the news during tonight’s UFC on FOX 25 broadcast.

bjpenndotcom - July 22, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has now been absent from the Octagon for over a year. In his last Octagon appearance, Rockhold looked to defend his middleweight title against his longtime rival Michael Bisping, who stepped in to fight Rockhold on short notice after Chris Weidman was forced out of his rematch with Rockhold due to injury. When Bisping and Rockhold stepped into the Octagon together at UFC 199, Bisping managed to avenge his previous loss to Rockhold as he picked up a 1st round KO win to claim the middleweight title. Following the fight, Rockhold was slated to fight Jacare Souza in November in Melbourne, however Rockhold was forced out of the fight due to an injury, and has yet to be scheduled to fight again.

Chris Taylor - July 1, 2017

Luke Rockhold plans on “making some noise” in his octagon return Luke Rockhold has not stepped foot inside the octagon since losing his UFC middleweight championship to Michael Bisping at UFC 199 twelve months ago in Los Angeles, California.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has not been seen in the Octagon since he surrendered the title to Michael Bisping just over a year ago, and at the moment, he still doesn’t have a return fight booked. That said, the former champ is staying ready, in the event that either Robert Whittaker or Yoel Romero is forced out of their UFC 213 interim middleweight title fight. Apparently, the former champ will happily step in for either man. Rockhold explained the situation in a recent interview with TMZ.